No more secrets

As they healed Finna with the oroborn deposits, Lee searched around for any abnormalities in the area.

About a century ago, mutated creatures invaded the mines. These creatures have consumed so much oroborn that it physically and mentally altered these creatures. But they don't just reside in the mines. No, these creatures are in every part of the continent. Some have even ventured out and either swam or flew to different parts of the world. These creatures are stronger, faster, and smarter than regular animals. So the only ways to fight back are hybrids, firearms, and oroborn.

As Lee searched around, he stumbled across a spider and he put it in his pocket for later. He then took a chunk of oroborn in case of emergency and continued to go deeper into the cave.

There have only been a dozen casualties in the mines since it got infested. And only a few people have gotten injured or hurt since then. But the most recent expedition resulted in a sudden occurrence of some cult members. There were 20 cult members and a polar bear hybrid. He was most likely the one that took out Jimmy.

"Lee! Come look at this!" Zyion cried out. Lee sprinted back to see what they had found. What they had found was something that seemed to be some kevlar playing with a chunk of meat and bones.

"What the fuck is that?" Mohammed asked. Lee knelt down close to it and put his gloves on. He picked up a chunk of meat and flipped it over. What he saw was gut wrenching. It was a finger. But the bones seemed to have been ripped out. He took the gloves off and threw them in a puddle to dissolve. He stood up and stepped back a little.

"That is a dead person." Lee said.

"What? No way." Zyion clasped her hands over her mouth.

"I thought there were only a few dozen deaths since it opened." Jimmy said.

"Yeah, there were. But something inside has been killing the expeditionists." Lee said. Everything was quiet. Until they heard a loud roar coming from inside a small tunnel. And just then, a massive crocodile with crystals growing on it burst out.

"What the fuck? Why is there a crocodile here?" Keller asked.

"The oroborn! It mutated it to adapt to the cold. It's probably warm blooded now!" Lee yelled back. The croc then slammed its tail down on them. Jimmy caught the tail and flung it back. Lee stabbed himself with the spider infused oroborn and started running on the walls of the cave. He pushed himself off and kicked it into Keller which in return shot it in the head with her rifle. The beast flopped onto the ground and twitched a bit before dying. But when it did, everyone stared at Lee.

"What the fuck was that!" Zyion asked as she grabbed him by his cheeks.

"What the fuck! You were hiding that shit from us?" Jimmy said as he tapped the back of his ax on Lee's head.

"Let me go!" Lee tried to push himself away but Zyion's hands stuck on to him. "Ack fuck!"

"C'mon, tell us. Or else we'll beat the shit out of you." Zyion said.

"You can't do shit to me, bitch!" Lee said as Jimmy poked him with the handle of his ax.

"Mohammed, are you seeing this shit? He won't tell us what he's been hiding." Jimmy said.

"Umm, well. I kinda already knew." He admitted quietly.

"Mohammed You cuck!" Keller said as she smacked the back of his legs with a stick.

"Ack!" He blurted as one of his legs buckled.

"Ok ok, I'll tell you." Lee said. Zyion let him go and so he started explaining.

"So if you get the DNA of an animal with oroborn and you put it in your blood, you temporarily get the abilities of that animal?" Keller restated.

"Yes." Lee answers.

"You're like a fake hybrid." Jimmy stated.

"You could say that." Lee said. "Ight c'mon, let's get Finna back to the city."

Back in the capital, they had Finna stay a few nights in the hospital and Diana still had a few more weeks of rehabilitation. As Diana laid in her bed, Lee was doing some paperwork at the desk next to her. He had his laptop and mounds of paper stacked up on each other. Most were for work and stuff, but others were bills, payments, and fees he had to pay for Diana and Finna.

As Lee was working, le felt a tug on his pants. It was Diana pulling on his pants.

"What is it?" He asked.

"Those papers aren't due for another week. Why don't you take a break. You've done so much for us already. Just come to sleep." She said.

"Ha." He sighed, "Fine."

Lee turned off his lamp and laptop. He put his pen down and climbed into the bed. As he laid there, Diana started tugging at him again.

"What is it?" He asked as he turned around. Diana pulled him in and held his head close to her chest. Lee never expected this from Diana, but soon she fell asleep and so too did Lee.

The next morning, everyone was in the living room of Diana's apartment. They were all laughing and playing until Lee and Diana emerged from the hallway. Their hair was disheveled and messy, and their clothes messed up.

"My man!" Jimmy said as he got up to dap him up.

"You did my brother!" Mohammed also dapped him up.

"The fuck are y'all talking about?" Lee looked down at his clothes and they were messy as hell. He looked back at Diana and her clothes were messy too. Her hair was rough and one of her shoulders was showing.

"You dirty dawg!" Jimmy said as he tapped his fist on Lee's shoulder.

"Oh shit! Motherfuckers!" Lee then realized what they meant.

"Really? You just got it now?" Keller said.

"So, how was your first time?" Zyion asked him. Diana blushed and was beet red.

"We did no such thing." Lee said as he sat down on the floor. He nudged Jimmy and whispered to him, "I think now is the perfect time to confess."

"Yeah, you're right." Jimmy whispered back.

"The fuck are you two whispering about?" Finna asked.

Jimmy stood up and got in front of Zyion. He knelt down and asked. "Please, will you go out with me?"

Lee and Mohammed jumped out and started screaming. "Yes! Let's go!"

"Aye man, dap me up!" Lee and Mohammed then dapped each other up in excitement and feelings of pride.

"Ahh, shoot! I mean, yes, yes I will." Zyion answered.

The boys exploded in chants. They were yelling and screaming, and they started chanting, "Jim! Jim! Jim!"

"You guys are so childish." Finna said.

"Shut up. You'd act the same way if your friend finally confessed to someone else." Mohammed said.

"And them saying yes too! Let's fucking go!" Lee added on while punching the walls. Zyion stood up and grabbed Jimmy by the head and kissed him.

"Yeeees!" Mohammed squealed. They were like little girls. They had so much excitement and happiness that they couldn't keep it in. And then they started chanting again.

"Jimmy! Jimmy! Jimmy!"

For the next few days, nothing eventful really happened. They had to fill out paperwork to officially be a part of Lee's main force. Even then, Lee couldn't go out on raids or go to Linker, the abandoned city overrun by cultists because he had to do so much paperwork. But then, he got word that the president was holding a ceremony for the highest ranking commanders, and those commanders were allowed to nominate one other for an award. And it just so happened that they nominated him to go. He was going to get an award for the hardest working, smartest, and most diligent new commander. And so he and Finna went as he was allowed to bring his assistant with him, and he waited for the event to begin.